1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of holders and storage means for wrench sockets. More particularly, the improved holder and storage rack for wrench sockets herein described comprises a novel stud or post member of convenient manufacture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A ratchet or socket wrench is a tool that can accept sockets of varying sizes to drive a desired fastener. Only one socket is used during any one time with the socket wrench. Since sockets are often sold as sets, a problem exists with the storage of the unused sockets of the set.
In a typical socket set, since only one socket is used with the wrench at any given time, a number of free sockets remain. Heretofore, a user might place these free sockets in a toolbox to prevent loss of the individual sockets until the appropriately sized socket was needed for a particular job. However, as sockets are sized close together, this loosely packed, jumbled storage of sockets has made it difficult to choose the socket of desired size. Furthermore and oftentimes, sockets are easily lost in a conventional toolbox due to their lack of a specific retention device to hold the sockets in one particular place.
In order to overcome the problems of loosely packed, free sockets, a number of devices have been created to retain the unused sockets in a particular place. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,712,473 to McWethy, an elongated flat bar having a number of solid posts for receiving the drive portion of a wrench socket is described. The posts are permanently affixed to one side of the bar and each post has a transverse bore which contains a pair of balls spaced by a coil. The balls are retained within the bore by peening each end thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,020 to Randy discloses another type of holder for socket wrench heads. This device incorporates a synthetic resin post or stud member that is slidably mounted into a channeled base member. The studs have no balls and coil, unlike McWethy aforementioned, and rely instead on a pressure fit with the socket head to be registered therewith. Also, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,570 to Robinson, a wrench socket storage rack with a quick release mechanism is taught. The quick release mechanism comprises, in part, a detent ball biased outwardly from a transverse bore in a stud which is peened to retain the ball within the bored stud. A release button permits the ball to fall into a recess thereby releasing the wrench socket which is in registry with the ball and stud member.
While the above mentioned prior art achieve the particular purposes to which they are addressed, they do not consider the overall manufacturing and assembling difficulties of their respective devices. Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a wrench socket storage rack that comprises a unique and novel stud member manufactured of a polysynthetic material employing a ball and coil that does not require peening.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wrench storage rack comprising a unique and novel stud member that will be significantly less costly to produce.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a wrench storage rack comprising a unique and novel stud member in conjunction with a base member which will result in easy sizing and accessibility of unused socket pieces of a socket set.